Impasse over Indo-US nuclear deal deepens

NEW DELHI: The stand off over the Indo-US nuclear deal worsened on Sunday with CPI(M) threatening to withdraw support to the UPA government if it pushed ahead with the "harmful" agreement.

"In case the government decides to go ahead with such a harmful agreement, which has no support in Parliament, the CPI(M) will withdraw support to the UPA government in concert with other Left parties," a statement of the CPI(M) Politburo said after a meeting here.

However, Congress, which heads the UPA that survives on the outside support of 59 MPs of the Left parties, sought to downplay the threat saying there was nothing new in the warning.

RJD, an important constituent of the UPA with 24 MPs, expressed confidence that the government will not not fall on the deal, which will also go through.

The first public declaration of withdrawal of support by CPI(M) General Secretary, Prakash Karat, came at a press conference in the midst of a deepening stand off with the government, which is keen on going ahead with the deal.

While the other Left parties, like the CPI, have already declared their intention to withdraw support if the government went ahead with the deal, the CPI(M) had so far only given\ strong indications that it would withdraw its support.

The UPA government is now now said to be involved in efforts to woo the Samajawadi Party, which has 39 MPs, and some other smaller groups, to make up for the numbers in Lok Sabha in case the Left carries out its threat.

SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav, who is being watched with keen interest, maintained suspense over his party's stand saying it would be decided on July 3 when the UNPA will meet. However, the arrival of his lieutenant Amar Singh from the US is expected to set in motion moves for a tie up between the Congress and the SP.

RJD chief and Railway Minister Lalu Prasad ruled out early elections saying they would be held on schedule.  "The government will not not fall and the nuclear deal will also go through," he said.

Opposition BJP made light of the CPI(M) threat dubbing the Left parties as "political pranksters", who were adopting divisive tactics.

The CPI(M) Politburo appealed to the partners of the Congress in the UPA to "ensure that no such steps are taken which will help the communal forces."

Karat said that "going to the Board of Governors of the IAEA for approval of the safeguards agreement will be a flagrant violation of the understanding arrived at the November 16, 2007 meeting of the UPA-Left Committee on the nuclear deal."

The meeting of the Politburo was held amidst the deadlock over the nuclear deal "arising out of the Prime Minister and the Congress leadership's insistence on going ahead" with it.

The CPI(M) attack was severe on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and the Congress leadership, an apparent reference to party president Sonia Gandhi, over the deal and the government's "abject failure" to tackle inflation.

The CPI(M) and the Left parties would unitedly launch an intensive campaign to expose the government's "surrender" of national interests on the deal and its "failure" to curb price rise.

The Politburo regretted that the PM and the Congress were "more concerned" about fulfilling their commitment to US President George Bush to operationalise the deal than to gear up the government for comprehensive steps to tackle inflation.

Expressing grave concern over the galloping inflation rate which had touched 11.42 per cent, Karat said, "the price rise of essential commodities imposes a crushing burden on the people. The poor are finding it difficult to survive given the rising cost of food stuffs."

With the BJP gaining strength in recent months, the CPI(M) reminded the Congress and its allies that the UPA was formed to keep the communal forces at bay.

"By taking such a step (on the deal) and the political consequences thereafter, that purpose will be undermined," Karat said seeking to put the blame squarely on the doors of the Congress in the event of saffron surge.

Karat, however, refused to take any questions.

While the dominant Left party has been firmly opposing the 123 agreement from the beginning, on Sunday's was the first meeting of its top leadership which issued a formal warning in the backdrop of moves by the government to go ahead with the deal.

Other Left parties -- CPI, RSP and Forward Bloc - are meeting in the next few days, which are expected to support the CPI(M) on the key issue that has brought major rupture between the Congress-led UPA and its key outside supporters.

Refusing to buy Government's argument on the deal, the party insisted that the agreement will "severely undermine" the country's independent foreign policy and strategic autonomy by "cementing a strategic alliance" with the US.

"The Politburo reiterates its firm opposition to the 123 agreement which does not provide full civilian nuclear cooperation and does not meet the needs of energy security," the statement said.

Karat, in an interview to Kairali TV, said the Prime Minister's approach towards the deal showed "how deeply they (Government) are entrenched with US interests".

"For a government that is a coalition minority government which is dependent on Left parties, the only correct and honest thing would have been to say that we believe that the deal is good for the country but since we cannot carry our own Parliament or the supporters of our coalition government, we are not going forward," he said.

The Third Front, formally known as UNPA, which consists of Samajwadi Party, TDP, INLD and some regional parties, is also meeting on July three to firm up its strategy on the deal.

The Left parties are trying hard to keep the 39-member strong Samajwadi Party, which has been warming towards Congress lately, to their side.

With no immediate signs of the impasse being resolved, Congress President Sonia Gandhi has already asked senior party leaders to gear up the organisation for a series of polls, including the Lok Sabha elections.

The past few days had witnessed a flurry of consultations in the UPA as well as the Left parties on the deal amidst signals that the Congress was in no mood to give up going ahead with the agreement.